49 Months - July 2011

Logan, Logan, Logan...Where do I start this month? You have said so many things that were funny this month. I only remember a few of them, but I guess that is a good place to start. One day just out of the blue you told me that Jesus made you with his magic wand, and the first time he made you you were made out of wood. Oh really I asked? Yep, and then he waved his magic wand again and turned you into a real boy and called you Logan. Well I'm not sure if you've even seen Pinocchio or not, but I guess one way or the other that is still a pretty good imagination you've got!

We told you and Tess about the new baby that will be coming to our family this winter, and when we aked you if you wanted a baby brother or sister you told us it was a baby brother. When we asked what would happen if it was a baby sister you said, "Well...that would be okay, but it's a baby brother." We'll see how accurate your prediction is. It seems like you predicted Tess would be a girl, so that would be 2 for 2 for you!

You are definitely a bargainer. In fact one of the things I hear out of your mouth most is "Well...." as you try to think of some way to reason with me or your dad. Like if I tell you you can't have a popsicle for breakfast you'll say something like, "Well, it's bright outside so that means it's lunch so I can have a popsicle." Or if I tell you we aren't going to the pool that day you say, "Well... we ARE going to the pool. Come on, mom, promise me we are going to the pool." It's pretty funny. For the most part you are a very well-mannered kid, but that doesn't stop you from trying to see how much bossing you can get away with.

Ever since your birthday last month whenever you see something you might like you tell me I can get it for you for your 5 birthday. I've explained over and over that your 5 birthday is not for a LONG time, but you refuse to care about little details like that.

The #1 thing that is heard around our house these days though is, "I'm 4, and 4-year-olds know everything." It seems like you've gone through this phase at some point before, but I'm afraid this one is sticking for good. It isn't helping that you are starting to realize that mom DOESN'T know everything and that my explanations for things might not quite add up. The other day you asked me if the sun floated, and that question seriously stopped me in my tracks for a minute. I really had to think about it! Does the sun float? I didn't really know for sure so we decided to ask your dad at dinner. We then both proceeded to use the salt and pepper shakers and a glass of water to explain how the earth moves around the sun (I tried to tell you for a minute that it was the other way around until your dad corrected me.) and that each time it goes around the sun is 1 year (Dad said 1 day at first, and then we had to throw in that the earth turns as it moves around the sun.) It was definitely a complicated lesson, and I think both your dad and I have some brushing up on our elementary education to do before you start needing science projects!

We've had a lot of fun enjoying camping and hanging out with family. We went to Grandma Hillier's to celebrate your birthdays and father's day and then back again a couple weeks later to celebrate grandma's birthday. She bought this squirt gun and you thought it would be smart to turn it on Uncle Joe - who later turned it on you big time!

Chasing dad too...

You also went to the balloon festival with Grandma and Grandpa Veater and then to the Veater reunion last weekend. You are definitely getting your summer's worth of fun. Now today we are off to the Hatch reunion at Tropic Reservoir and I hope to get some good pictures of you fishing with your Buzz Lightyear pole, that is, if I don't forget my camera again...(I didn't take my camera fishing, but you (and by you I mean me) caught a fish with your Buzz pole and were SOOOO mad at dad when he threw it back! I did get this one of you and Quade hanging out by the fire though.)

I've noticed more and more that if you can't do something perfect the first time you try or just don't think you can do something that you won't. I talked about this a little in your T-ball letter a while back, but I hope that you grow out of that stage, and I hope I can figure out the best way to do that. Don't be the one who holds you back, okay buddy? You are so smart and so sweet, and you should never, ever worry about failing. Easier said than done, trust me I know, but since you already know everything at 4 years old, I don't think there is anything in the world you won't be able to do by the time you are grown.

Love you bud,

Mom

25 Months - July 2011

Well would you check me out, your letter is actually up on time this month! Must be because your dad wrote such a great one last month that I felt I ought to pick up my slack here a little bit.

Not too much has gone on this month, just doing our usual summer thing with daily trips to the park, pool, or out to the river with Toby. You are still quite the handful and never let me forget who is the boss around here. Logan is almost starting to figure it out too, though some days when you are on the rampage and I warn him he might want to just hang out in a different room than you he will still do something that pushes your buttons and causes you to have a meltdown. Yesterday was one of those days and you ended up biting me. Here's some advice child, you don't want to bite your mom. I bite back. I didn't yesterday because your bite hurt so bad I probably would have bitten you just as hard, but just keep in mind that while your dad and Toby won't bite back, I can assure you that me and Logan probably will! In fact, let's just get out of the biting stage right about now.

You still say some really cute phrases, and I don't think I've written about "fishits" before this month, so I better make sure I include it now. For some reason Logan got in the habit of saying "Ohhh biscuits" whenever I would tell him he needed to wait for something or he couldn't have this or do that. You picked up on it of course, except when you say it, it sounds like "Oh Fishits!" The first time you said it I had to have you repeat it a couple times before I realized what it was supposed to be, and then I had to explain to everyone we were around for the next few weeks what exactly you were trying to say. You also have this word I can't quite figure out and you've thrown tantrums on more than one occasion because of our lack of communication. It sounds like you are saying something like sippy-ya, and I have tried every remotely close sounding thing I can, but I did finally figure out that if I put your blanket around your shoulders like a cape that usually satisfies you! Maybe one day you can tell me what sippy-ya means. ( About 6 weeks has gone by since I wrote this, and I finally figured out that sippy-ya means "superhero on" as in, you want your blanket around your shoulders like a superhero. Duh, mom!)

Me and you ended up getting to go on the fourwheeler ride out to the Grand Canyon this month. I was a little nervous about how you would do because frankly I was a little nervous about how I would do, but you handled 87 miles and about 6 hours on the bikes just fine, and you did it in style!

And finally, since I am ready for bed after chasing you and Logan all day, I'll leave you with this lovely little picture. It is grainy because I took it basically in a pitch black room where you were sleeping. You'd just fallen asleep and I didn't want to wake you up with a flash or any kind of light, but I about died when I walked in and saw this. You even crack me up when you are sleeping.

Love you Tess Lin,

Momma

Had to throw this one in of your dad with Logan's Transformer's mask. Your dad is one funny guy.

What a pretty girl! You had about 14 different birthday parties this month. I'm pretty sure you and Logan got really used to getting showered with presents all the time!

You riding with your dad. I was afraid to drive with you for quite a while and sure enough as soon as you got on with me you started throwing a fit and trying to drive/steer!